The Countries With The Best And Worst Gender Pay Gap Expectations -- And How The U.S. Stacks Up

In the U.S., we hear a lot about the gender pay gap. Across the globe, there are countries where women expect to make just as much or more than men, and others where women’s salary expectations are significantly grimmer.

H.R. consulting firm Universum Global recently released its annual research on salary expectations. It surveyed 302,807 business students in 57 countries and asked what they expect to make in their first year after graduation.

We’ll first look at the countries with the narrowest gender gaps in pay expectations, and then those with the widest differences.

Morocco was the only nation surveyed where women expected to earn more than men. That doesn’t mean they have equal economic status—only 27% of Moroccan women are in the labor force at all, compared with 78% of men.

In the UAE, women expect to earn nearly as much as men, but only 42% of females participate in the labor force, compared with 92% of males. The women who work in the UAE and Morocco tend to have higher education levels, a factor that partly drives their higher relative income.

In the U.S., women’s salary expectations are 91% of men’s, and the actual gender pay gap is about 80%.

Bulgaria has the widest gender gap in pay expectations of any country, although more women participate in the labor force there (65%) than in Africa or the Middle East.

In Saudi Arabia, the nation tied for the second-largest gap in expectations and where women can't legally drive, only 21% of women work or are seeking work.

If you're a woman assessing your current or future salary, research the averages in your city and industry with tools like Glassdoor and PayScale. For a pay raise, remember that if you started at a lower base than your peers, even a 20% bump could mean you’re still underpaid.

Follow me on Twitter @JeffKauflin or email me at jkauflin[at]forbes[dot]com.